ThunderBolt Stockwhips

Now as stories go, I got all these ones straight from the horses mouth so to speak, well actually it was straight from my dear old daddies mouth, who said he got the stories straight from the mouth of his dear old daddy and so forth and so forth for times a way back..Anyway, this is what my old daddy told me about how the family began making Thunderbolt Stockwhips years and years ago, and a little of how we got mixed up in things since then..

The beginning...

Well according to my dear old daddy, we started making Stockwhips a long way back, in some place overseas called Jewrewsalem or something like that.This is how it happened, you see my great, great, great, great, well a few greats back anyways, grand daddy was a walking around some temple or something in this town of Jewrewsalem, when he see this man a standing with his hands on his hips, and a scowl on his face. He was a glaring at all the cows they had in that temple, and it seems he wasn't too happy about it.Well according to my old daddy, this man walked up to my great old grand daddy, who just happened to be an idling by, and asked him if he had any kangaroo hide to make himself a whip.

Well my great old grand daddy said he didn't think he did but that he did have some rope handy, so off he bolted and got it.

He gave it to the man and watched with his big round eyes as this man rolled a small belly and after pulling the rope apart, he made himself 12 strands and my great old grand daddy swears by God, he started a plaiting himself a stockwhip.

My great old grand daddy was a standing there and soaked it all in.

He remembered everything the man had done, even him saying what he wouldn't give for a good pistol grip handle, and after watching him make a cracker out of a piece of camel hair, saw him set about ridding that temple of them cows and things..

Well after that my great old grand daddy had an idea, he was gunna start making stockwhips himself, and that's the true story of how the family began our trade..

Oh and if you're wondering about the "Thunderbolt" part, well great old grand daddy said that was to remind him how he learned to stop cussing... not too sure what he meant by that, but since then all our whips have a long steel belly..

Contributions to Science..

Now another story that the family often tell around the campfire, is how one of our great old daddies actually contributed to us all having electricity in our homes today.

The story goes that the family had left Europe and gone to earn a living making Stockwhips in the New World.

So after settling in America, great grand daddy set about making the longest stockwhip ever made, it was a whopping 16 ft long!

He wanted to show it off at the World Fair.

Well when he went outside to try and crack it, he noticed that there was a thunderstorm brewing, a big one!

Not put off in the slightest, he walks out into the field, and is surprised to see an old man with a peculiar set of glasses perched on his nose, he was trying to fly a kite. The problem was that the string had gone and got itself tangled.

So the old man sat down in frustration and watched my old grand daddy trying to crack his whip.

Well he swung that steel bellied stockwhip high above his head, and just as he was going to bring it down to complete the crack, Mother nature decided to do it for him!

A mighty thunderbolt flew from the sky and touched the tip of the steel bellied stockwhip sending poor old grand daddy a hurtling backwards onto his rear, and at the same time, the old man with the glasses shot off shouting "EUREKA! I've got it!"

My grand daddy said that man was some famous Scientist who ended up discovering electricity, all because of our wonderful Thunderbolt Stockwhip!

Rumours...

Now as for what's written below, sadly we can't verify the truthfulness of any of it, that being said, on reading the accounts it's highly likely that a Thunderbolt Stockwhip was involved.

The only person that we know of that has ever managed to tangle up a Thunderbolt Stockwhip, was the well known Aussie bushman, Russell Coight. To his credit though, Russell spent many hours working with us and helping us improve our design, thanks mate your a real legend!

Crocodile Dundee after downing a few beers at the Walkabout Creek Pub, used a Thunderbolt whip, the Tiger we reckon, to remove a nasty looking knife from the hand of a drunk and angry patron. The bloke was amazed that he couldn't cut the darn thing!

Clancy of the Overflow only ever used a Thunderbolt Stockwhip, one given to him by my great, great grand daddy in fact. It was said that Clancy could take a March fly off a beasts butt, using his Thunderbolt Stockwhip.

The Man from Ironbark would never sleep without his Thunderbolt Stockwhip by his side, and after his trip to the city, he decided to grow a beard.

Yes, you knew it, The Man from Snowy River, swung his Thunderbolt Stockwhip round and gave a cheer as he charged down that mountain. The actual Stockwhip that Jim Craig used can still be seen in a display case in the Harrison Homestead sitting room.

Slim Dusty was writing a song to celebrate the famous Thunderbolt Steel bellied Stockwhip, he called it his greatest work yet, sadly he passed away before it was finished and they buried it with him in his coffin...

Trumby the Ringer, was apprenticed to my great grand daddy in Kununurra, but he weren't no good for the job, while he could fancy plait, it seems he couldn't read or write.

Most Stockmen that died refused to be wrapped up with a Thunderbolt Stockwhip and blanket, as they feared the stainless steel belly wouldn't rot away fast enough to free them for the afterlife. A common misconception that's still prevalent today.

Middleton's Rouseabout began working with my great old grand daddy a while back, but he had to let him go, seemed he never had any opinions and never had any ideas.

Sir Sidney Kidman would only use a Thunderbolt 8ft Stockwhip, he knew it would never wear out, and he was always careful with a quid. In 2016 a consortium of Chinese businesses tried to buy the entire Kidman holdings reportedly all to get hold of Sid's old Thunderbolt Stockwhip.

The Moleskin Midas himself, Tony Yates, said of his Thunderbolt Stockwhip, "Its one bitchin' good whip!"

Sweeny finally left the city and the drink and it was rumoured he was "touched up" with a Thunderbolt Stockwhip for his trouble.

When Voyager II was launched in August, 1977, secreted away in an air tight compartment was a Thunderbolt Taipan Stockwhip. Someone thought it would be good for a laugh if an alien opened it up and thought it was a snake. Some people hey? What were they thinking?